It had been quite the week for Maren Morris: Four days before the 26-year-old strolled into NPR's offices, she'd pulled off a mighty duet with Alicia Keys during the 59th annual Grammys ceremony and taken home the evening's award for Best Country Solo Performance. It's no secret the Nashville songwriter-turned-performer has star power; her limber voice and the big, crossover-friendly gestures on her major-label debut, Hero, let her easily dominate a huge stage like the Grammys'.

Our small stage suited Morris and her songs just as well. She's cultivated a soulful, irreverent pop-country aesthetic that trades in trucks, bros and beer for a vintage Mercedes, female friendships and boxed wine — and which owes much of its charm to details that shine in a stripped-down setting. Take, for instance, the cash-register ka-ching that punctuates the chorus of the oh-so-sick burn "Rich," or the intimate, after-hours raggedness in her voice as she sings of jaded heartache in "I Could Use A Love Song."

Between songs, Morris kept up a friendly banter with the audience on the other side of the desk — even shouting out Tiny Desk alumnus Anderson .Paak, who'd also been part of a memorable performance at the Grammys. By the time she got to "My Church" — the radio megahit that had earned her that golden gramophone, performed here in a dazzlingly pure three-part harmony — everybody was part of her congregation.